Urban Fantasy discussion

I really enjoy magical humans. I am open to suggestions with male and/or female lead characters. My favorite writers are Jim Butcher and Simon R Green for this genre. I find I really enjoy female urban fantasy writers such as Kate Griffin as well. As a preference, I am not into Harry Potter or young adult fiction. I can do coming of age but not over multiple books. Lastly, I don't mind having shifters, vamps, and other beings in the story.

Kim Harrison writes the Hallows series. Some of Kelley Armstrong's books have witches in them.

You know I actually read at least one, maybe two, of the Hallows book a few years ago. I am going to take another look at them. As I recall, I was finding so much vamp stuff that I sorta stopped searching out the magical community. That's why I am back looking.

I have never read Kelley Armstrong and I am not sure why. The summoning series seems 'young adult', so that's out. I know she has more stuff though. Thanks for the suggestions.

Have you read the Study series By Maria V Snyder I love her play on magicians its so awesome. Their are three books in the series and then there is another series based on some of the characters in the study series called the Glass series.

Study
Poison Study
Magic Study
Fire Study

Glass
Storm Glass
Sea Glass
Spy Glass

I havent read the spin off series but Ive read Poison Study and Magic Study I loved loved Magic Study Im going to start Fire study ASAP.

I read the first two and loved them. I did not read the third one because I thought the first two books wrapped the story pretty well. Also, I was not sure the main character was prominent in the third one. I will go back and check it out. I agree, it is a different take on magic. Thanks.

Along the lines of Dresden and Nightside are the Marla Mason books by ]T.A. Pratt, starting with Blood Engines. They're decent reads, though not as good as Dresden, imo.

I've also heard good things about the Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman, starting with Nightlife. I haven't read this series myself, but I've heard it's similar to the others mentioned here. Robyn is also a female author.

I'll second the suggestions of Kim Harrison and Kelley Armstrong. You might also like Mercedes Lackey's UF retelling of fairy tales series "Elemental Masters" that starts with The Serpent's Shadow. There's also:
Black Magic Woman by Justin Gustainis
Thirteen Orphans by Jane Lindskold
Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy

blackrose wrote: "Along the lines of Dresden and Nightside are the Marla Mason books by ]T.A. Pratt, starting with Blood Engines. They're decent reads, though not as good as Dresden, ..."

thanks Blackrose and Joseph. I made a Borders run yesterday to grab some of the books highly rated by the group. I have read the Rob Thurman series. Cal and Niko are cool and they really get into some tight spots. They don't really have magic but they have skills. I also read Urban Shaman by CE Murphy but I had to make myself finish that one. The heroine got on my nerves with the falling down...I am weird that way. Some of the other stuff looks interesting like Thirteen Orphans and Black Magic Woman. I have added them both to my TO READ list.

Some other suggestions:

Sabina Kane series by Jaye Wells
Sisterhood of the Sight series by Savannah Russe
Diana Tregarde series by Mercedes Lackey
The Wizard of 4th St series by Simon Hawke (OOP)
Elemental Assassin series by Jennifer Estep
Circle series by Linda Robertson

Don't know any of these. I will check them out. Thanks.

*Dog Days by John Levitt is a practioner, not a wizard and he has a great dog-like farmiliar.

*Try this YA book that is unique and a stand alone Impossible by Nancy Werlin.

*Have you read On the Edge by Ilona Andrews? It's very good.

*The Diana Tregard books by Mercedes Lackey were some of the very first urban fantasy books.*Jinx High this is one of the titles.

*Here's another early series, it's a shared world, with books of short stories and novels by several very good writers. The setting is where the world of humans and elves have blurred and neither magic or technology work reliably and it's called The Borderlands.Finder*Bordertown: Where Magic Meets Rock & Roll*The Essential Bordertown*Borderland #1*Life On The Border*

Julia wrote: "*The Diana Tregard books by Mercedes Lackey were some of the very first urban fantasy books.Jinx High this is one of the titles..."

There's another series I enjoyed as well. I find I really enjoy Mercede's Lackey's urban fantasy more than her pure fantasy of totally new worlds.

My favorite magic series is The Allie Beckstrom series by Devon Monk


Magic to the Bone (released 11/08)
Magic In the Blood (05/09)
Magic in the Shadows (11/09)
Magic on the Storm (5/10)
Magic at the Gate (11/10)

Every book keeps getting better and better. I am so glad they are releasing these six months apart.

Happy reading!

Shanna Swendson - the Katie Chandler series
Linda Wisdom - Jazz Tremaine series
Kelley Armstrong - Dime Store Magic and Industrial Magic (3rd and 4th book from the Otherworld Women series - excellent!!! And definitely not like UF teen books. Each book has a different main character and these books have Paige Winterborne a witch as the main character)

Not read yet but on the shelf :)
Laura Anne Gilman - Hard Magic
Yasmine Galenorn - Sisters of the Moon (one of the sisters is a witch so some books have a witch as a main character)
Juliet Blackwell - Secondhand spirits

There are some great suggestions here and my "to read" list is growing daily. I second the Kim Harrison and Kelley Armstrong suggestions.

You should also take a look at the Cassandra Palmer Series by Karen Chance. She has great sense of world-building and constructs characters that you want to follow.

I love both of the Karen Chance series. She has a great sense of humor as well as builds intrigue well. I am definitely reading Kim Harrison series since I already read one or two and know they are really good. The last one I read had the main character, the witch (its been years) living with the vampire. The garden fairy's son was missing and they found him working for some criminal. There were some other nasty vamps in the book as well. Does anyone know which book that was? I don't want to re-read it.

JD I think it is a is the one you want. Personally that is one of my favorites in the series.

I agree with Dawn, I enjoyed the Rachel Morgan series as well. But it took me about 2 months to pick it up after I read the 1st book. So stick to it, it just gets better and better.

You might try Nina Kiriki Hoffman's books, particularly A Fistful of Sky, Past the Size of Dreaming, and A Red Heart of Memories. The second two are a duology, the first stands alone. They are coming of age, and excellent at that. In the first, the heroine is the only ordinary one in a family of magicians, until suddenly she has far more power than she knows what to do with. The other two are about a group of magic-workers, most of whom knew each other as children, one of whom is a ghost. They have been separated by traumatic events and need to come together again. Meanwhile their magical paths have gone in such widely various directions they may not even recognize each other. Wonderful variety of types of magic here.

I am also a Devon Monk fan!

Has anyone tried Kat Richardson? I haven't but I've heard that they're good

Katrina wrote: "Has anyone tried Kat Richardson? I haven't but I've heard that they're good"

I'm reading the fourth one now. They're pretty good.

Her poweres aren't very flashy. She uses them mostly for information gathering. She's a private investagtor who trys to save the day by figuring out what's going on, and using the information to her advantage.

I second Ruby's recommendation of Nina Kiriki Hoffman, pretty much everything she's written. (Though one is a sf first contact novel.)

I have read the first three Kat Richardson's novels about Harper Blaine. I liked the novella best so far in Mean Streets. In the first three she's trying to figure out her "gift," and relies a lot (too much?) on friends. I'm looking forward to books #4 & 5.

Julia wrote: "I have read the first three Kat Richardson's novels about Harper Blaine. I liked the novella best so far in Mean Streets. In the first three she's trying to figure out her "gift," and relies a lot (too much?) on friends. I'm looking forward to books #4 & 5. "

I've read all four novels plus the novella in Mean Streets, and the series is definitely ramping up. The first novel, Greywalker is kind of slow, but by Vanished - the newest one - Kat Richardson has hit her stride. I'm looking forward to the new one later this year.

Magic or Madness by Justine Larbaslestier definately belongs in this category! What I liked about that book, was how much the character loves math and numbers-- until she learns about magic...

are all a great set of books


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Don't know if suggestions are still needed, but the Connor Grey and Felix Castor series are good. I prefer Connor Grey of the two.

I was very impressed with the Connor Grey series. I intend to read Felix Castor, as well.

I really enjoyed
it's a funny and light harder book The main character is a female and she has just come into her powers at like 23.
this book is a little bit more on the serious side and the supporting characters are vampires.
I really enjoyed these and the main character is a women who has a type of magical powers, also it has alot of supporting characters with magical powers.
Hope I was helpful.

I really enjoyed Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells. It's the first in the Sabina Kane Series. The first two are out & there is a going to be a third one, I just don't have the release information handy. The main character is a Vampire/Mage half-breed.

I recently enjoyed .

I'm finally getting around to Connor Grey -- it's great! The first book in the series is Unshapely Things by Mark Del Franco .

Harlequin Books wrote: "I recently enjoyed ."


Me too! I'm really looking forward to the next in the series.

Joseph wrote: "Harlequin Books wrote: "I recently enjoyed ."


Me too! I'm really looking forward to the next in the series."

Me too! Pack of Lies sounds like a great read to me. I can't wait to see the PUPI's in action again.

The Elemental Assassin series by Jennifer Estep is great. Magical humans, giants, etc. The first book is called Spider's Bite. This is definately one of my favorite new series.

The Cassie Palmer series by Karen Chance has lots of different types of characters in it, along with pretty intense world building. The first book is Touch the Dark and the books definately get more interesting and complex as they go.

I read the Elemental Assassin a few months ago based on someone's recommendation. It was good. I have not read the second one because the reviews are not so good. I may get around to it but I don't want to ruin the fact that the first one was excellent. As for Karen Chance -- I read everything she pens. I am about to order Would-be Witch and Red Headed Stepchild based on recommendations from this discussion. Good Stuff Yall.

Well then...come on over and join the new 'Karen Chance Fans' forum:
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/3...

Hi jD- I hadn't heard the bad reviews of the 2nd Elemental Assassin book. I loved it though, thought it was even better than the first. And the first chapter of the 3rd book is up on her website, it's really good too!

More books with magical human:


Mark of the Demon by Diana Rowland
Harm None: A Rowan Gant Investigation by M. R. Sellars
Soulless by Gail Carriger

Hi
Have you read any of C. E. Murphy books? There are 3 series I think I am reading the one with Joanne Walker as the star of the book. I really enjoy these books and she also has a series about gargoyles. Not my cup of tea but hey she is still a great writer.

Jo

have you read the Downside Ghosts series? Very dark, gritty -- but wonderful:

I second the recommendation for Downside Ghosts. Also, you might like the Lili/Lilith St. Crow series. Interesting worlds in the Dante Valentine and Jill Kismet series.

C.S. Friedman writes the Coldfire Trilogy. Great world building, great antagonists, great protagonists. I reread this series every now and then, because I absolutely LOVE Gerald Tarrant.

Chakara wrote: "Have you read the Study series By Maria V Snyder I love her play on magicians its so awesome. Their are three books in the series and then there is another series based on some of the characters in..."

Thank you so very very much for this. I found this site by using google, read your post, bought Poison Study and got hooked right away. Just finished the book and can't wait to start Magic Study. Glad to have found this site.

Poison Study was great, I agree. :)

I just finished . The cover (in my opinion) is very deceiving lol. It's an urban fantasy novel and delves into a world cohabited by Humans, Witches/Wizards, Vamps, and Daemons. Its a new author & book but I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it.

Serena wrote: "I just finished . The cover (in my opinion) is very deceiving lol. It's an urban fantasy novel and delves into a world cohabited by Humans, Witches/Wizards..."

I have seen that one around. Is it YA? Does it end in a cliffhanger? Those are deal breakers for me but I am in the market for new stuff.

Jd, have you read the Kate Daniels series? I haven't seen anyone list it yet, but Kate has some magic and there are vampires (although faaarrr from the traditional ones we see in most UF books) and shapeshifters. Great series! The first book for some reason starts slow, but the rest of the book and series is terrific!

Kate and Curran are one of my Favorite couples. Is Discovery of Witches similar?

JD, I wouldn't classify it as YA, and I'm with you on the cliffhangers. I stopped reading a series for that very reason because each book ended in total suspense lol. Although this book is 592 pages there was no way to wrap up a complete ending thus leaving possibilities for a sequel, which there will be. The ending, for me, was satisfying enough though :-).

Oh, and I second the Kate Daniel series if you haven't read it, I love that series!